So Crazy It Might Work. Or Not.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 10:27PM When we left our heroine (that's me! hi!) yesterday, she was on the verge of a precipice. Or at least thinking about walking near a precipice. Or possibly looking up locations of precipices (precipi?) on a map.
My life is comfortable, so I don't really need God. But what if my life suddenly became uncomfortable?
That is not a happy thought.
However, "There are no atheists in foxholes" is as true a saying as there is. Nothing like a major crisis to make you go crying out for God. And the cool thing about God? He'll be there for you. There's none of that, "Oooooooh . . . so you think you can ignore me for a couple of years and then when things get bad just snap your fingers and I'll be there? Well forget you!" that you get with humans.
But I don't really want a crisis to get me back into relationship with God. Crises are rarely fun.
Sadly (though hardly surprisingly), it seems that I'm the kind of person who, lacking much self-discipline of my own, requires a jolt to do the right thing. Before a jolt is inflicted upon me, I thought I'd create my own.
Lent is coming up. As a lapsed Catholic, I really like the idea of Lent. To take the 40 (a very biblically significant number) days before Easter as a time of prayer and fasting is an excellent ideal. The reality of it though, at least in my observation, is that too many (though not all!) use the "fasting" portion as
- a diet as in, "I did the Daniel Fast and I really drew closer to God AND I lost 10 pounds!"
- an incentive to quit bad habits, i.e. caffeine, cigarettes, drinking which makes it more about us than about God.
- another arena in which to be half-hearted/lame i.e. giving up things that really aren't that hard. "I gave up doughnuts for Lent, good thing these are muffins!"
Personally, I've never really fasted anything for Lent. Because I'm lazy and don't really like to be uncomfortable. But this year is different. This year I really think I need some discomfort. In fact, I think I need a lot of it, which is how I remembered an article I read a few years back. It was an interview with some Catholic college students who had taken the idea of fasting for Lent to an extreme. They had written down 40 things to fast from on pieces of paper and each day during Lent they picked a piece and and fasted from that item. The next day they would fast from a new item plus all the ones that had come before it.
The item that really stuck in my head was one kid who had written "hot showers" as one of his items and then drew that paper early on in Lent so he took cold showers for over a month. That alone would be a huge sacrifice for me, but the hot showers were just one of the 40 other things he ultimately gave up. Granted, some of the items were just for a day or two, but by putting them all down, he showed his willingness to give up any of them for the whole time.
And I'm thinking of doing the same thing. I've been brainstorming all the ways that I seek comfort or escape, rather than turning to God. Then I've added in some things I do that make my life "easy" that I could do without. So far, I have 26. Here's my list:
- Coffee
- Sugar
- Snooze Alarm
- Words with Friends
- Television
- Cheese
- Secular music
- Bread
- Electric Blanket
- iPad
- Changing into jammies/sweats when I get home
- Evening shower
- Cereal
- Raising my voice
- Gossip
- Chocolate
- Popcorn
- Chips/crackers
- Pop
- Worry
- Complaining
- Fast food
- Close parking spaces - go to the end instead
- Breakfast
- Driving to work on days when it's over 40 degrees out
Hmmmm . . . kinda looks like someone has some food issues, doesn't it?
But we knew that already.
Obviously, this list is personal to me. (Full disclosure: I had "afternoon nap" on the list but my kids begged me to take it off because they don't like me when I miss my nap.) Not everyone uses bread as a coping device or considers breakfast an essential. Your list would probably look different. But giving up any one of those for 40 days would cause me some discomfort. Giving up all of them could be excruciating.
Or, it could be an opportunity. A push, a shove, the bulldozer I need to get me in the right direction. It would also be an acknowledgement of the tremendous sacrifice God made for me.
I don't know.
Is this crazy? Is it doable? Can I do it? Could you do it? What do you think? What would you put on your list?
God, Lenten Adventure, Mindee
Reader Comments (15)
all i can say is that you are a better woman than me!
oh, and when you figure out how NOT to worry...you let me know. =o)
I love it! It is crazy. But I think it is totally doable. My list would look very similar to yours... especially the bread/cookie/candy parts. Oh, and cheese.
I think you make an excellent point about giving things up for the right reasons. I mentioned giving up sugar the other day, as part of a fast, and when I friend asked why, I didn't know. Except for that it sounded like a healthy thing to do.
I can't say for sure that I, or you, could make it through 40 days of giving these things up. But I think it's the intention, and the effort, that will mean the most. The willingness is what will draw us closer to God.
Wow. I admire you for even considering this idea! Not sure I'll be up for fasting much of anything at Lent with a new baby around, but I will be prayerfully considering what God DOES want me to do with that time!
And many of these things would be on my list as well :)
It's totally do-able! It will be hard but do-able. As long as you fast for the right reason and call on the Lord for strength when you want to break your fast, it will bring you closer to him. I don't give anything up for lent but our church does 21 days of prayer and fasting at the beginning of each calendar year. We start on Sunday. I'm still thinking about what to give up. I too struggle with the food sacrifices. It's a great way to kick start a weight loss plan but I don't want to get wrapped up in that being really why I'm doing it. I have to remember it's to draw me close and not to be able to close my pants. Sticll thinking and praying on that one.
You can totally do it. I have complete faith in you. And that's such a brilliant way to celebrate Lent! I've seen quite a few examples in my life, and none are nearly as true to the real meaning as that.
You can do it, Mindee! What a terrific way to remind yourself of the sacrifice that was made on your behalf. While not nearly equal to that sacrifice, this is a way to make life just uncomfortable enough to remind you of that sacrifice. How inspiring!
Good for you! It will be tough, but a great experience
what a great idea!! i'm not brave enough to do it, but please do it, so i can follow your progress on your blog!! as long as you don't list "blogging" as something you'd give up.
You can totally, totally do it.
What a great idea, I think you can totally do it too!
What an awesome ambition! I am not catholic, but I do really like the idea of Lent and try to give something up every year (it is the least we can do afterall). Good for you for considering this. I hope you can think of 14 more. This will definately take some faith, and guidance to get through. Good luck, I'll be anxious to follow you while you do this. Very inspiring.
What a great idea. Definitely a crazy idea ! but I think it is doable - and even if not, the fact that you even attempted this is pretty darn impressive. I am not Catholic, but I grew up going to Catholic schools, and I have always participated in Lent. I kind of pick and choose when it comes to religion :) I have a hard time giving up foods (clearly I don't diet), so I would surely fail at a majority of your list. Especially cheese.
This year I am thinking about doing something sacrificial with my time and focusing it towards God instead. Similar to you, my life is pretty good but a lot of my friends have had terrible things happen that drew them closer to God and I'd like that relationship with him before it's my turn! You mentioned a few of these above, and some of the things I am considering for lent are facebook, twitter, pinterest, WWF, reading blogs/blogging (eeeeek!), magazines, text messaging, and possibly my phone/computer in general (though that might be a bit drastic) - and instead of spending time on those things I would spend it with the bible or in prayer. I don't think I could come up with 40 things!! Maybe I could do one a week or something?! Maybe.
Well, I am a practicing Catholic who has always participated in Lent to some degree. I have many thoughts on your posts but will mention just one thing that occurs to me while reading your list. Lent is not only about giving up its also about doing extra, positive things and acquiring good habits to replace the things you're giving up. So maybe you can round out you list with some positive sacrifices like:
Random acts of kindness. Read 1 chapter of the bible every night for 40 days. Pray an extra 15 minutes a day. Read 1 article on a religious topic everyday. Volunteer at a charity. You see where I'm going right? Doing positive things takes the dread and negativity out of the Lenten practices and makes you a better person too.
I told all my friends your Lenten plans (and by all, I mean Lindsey and Skye) and they're both super impressed!
if i ever get around to sending out our christmas cards, we included a poem that i think you will really appreciate along these lines.
know that 2012 is going to be a meaningful year in your life, even if for just this reason alone!